Yes We Can

Founded in 1954 by James McLamore and David Egerton, Burger King Corporation has grown to become the world's largest flame-broiled fast-food restaurant chain and the world's second largest hamburger chain trailing only McDonald's. Despite its success, Burger King Corporation has undergone several acquisitions and leadership changes in 56 years with its most recent occurring in the fall of 2010.

After first being sold to Pillsbury in 1967, franchising increased considerably. However, Pillsbury sold Burger King to British company, Grand Metropolitan. Fortunately, under their ownership, the United Kingdom was introduced to Burger King through the conversion of its Wimpy restaurants to Burger King restaurants. After Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness in 1997, it formed Diageo approximately five years later. Diego was accused of neglecting Burger King in favor of its premium liquor business and during 2002 Burger King was sold again to a group of investors led by Texas Pacific Group. Four years later, in 2006, Burger King became a publicly traded company. Most recently, in fall 2010, Burger King was purchased by 3G Capital, an investment firm. It's most recent buyer, 3G Capital, has acquired Burger King and its challenges.

In addition to withstanding the structural and leadership changes that occurred under new owners, Burger King has been challenged with falling profits and sales, angry franchise owners, mediocre innovation, growing competition, and narrowly focused on the very customers who have been hardest hit during the recession (Brady, 2010). Despite its challenges and its long history, Burger King has consistently focused on expanding globally. This paper seeks to analyze how Burger King can capitalize on its opportunity to expand globally in an effort to remain a competitive threat in the fast food industry and possibly overtaking it's main rival McDonald's.